Homer Alaska - Opinion

Story last updated at
2:56 PM on
Wednesday, February 6, 2013

It may not be a perfect system, but capitalism beats alternatives

By RACHEL WARREN

I've resisted the urge to write in response to those with extreme anti-corporate leftist views that so regularly appear in our weekly paper, but this time I cannot sit by without a response to last week's letter from Jessica Tenhoff. She states in her letter that we should "Occupy Economic Development. Occupy the Economic Development Forum. Stop the Madness Here."

OK, so let us all do it, Jessica. How about we start with your business of yurt building in Homer?

Let's see, we can start with protesting the materials used in your yurts, such as the "polyvinyl" coverings you use. "Poly-vinyl," that's a 100-percent petroleum-based product, correct? As is the Tyvek building wrap you use and the "reflectix foil-backed bubble wrap" lined with "polyester" fabric (quoting from your website).

Hum, that would all be possible from the petro-chemical industry (yes that's oil and gas) and the good people you were rudely protesting against at the forum last week.

And what about the "MetalBestos stove stack," the metal bolts and metal tools you use, surely none of that came from any kind of mining activity, did it? I won't even begin to go into the resources and industry activities you are protesting against which you use everyday in bringing your materials to Homer, nor the office and business products that you use every day. This is all thanks to the industry's and development you wish to have us all "occupy."

Your cell phone, your computers, your office products. Yes Jessica, it wasn't a "corporatation" or an "international bank" that made all that possible for you, it was people, people just like you that had a dream of building something and making life better for themselves, their families and for others who could benefit from their hard work, not to mention the government who lives off of such businesses through its taxation on them.

It's called capitalism, and I know that is a horrible dirty word for you and the "occupy" crowd, but the dirty little secret is you all benefit from it every day, and without it our country and our lives would look dramatically different than they do.

Is it a perfect system? No, but there is no such thing as a perfect system, and history has shown capitalism to be the greatest system for a freedom-loving society.

Are there downsides? Yes, but compared to the downsides of the alternative societies, I'll take capitalism 100 times over.

Unfortunately, too many people aren't recognizing this, and it's looking more and more like it's going to take having our freedoms removed from us before the light bulb turns on for these people  or maybe I should say turns off.

Kids are being taught that "corporations" are evil. Corporations are not evil, they are a means of carrying on business. Take them away with the capitalism you are protesting, and you take away the freedom, prosperity and self-sufficiency that made us a great nation. We are left with government alone to fill our needs, and we all are left to become dependents on our government, not just the few of us who are in need, but all of us, our entire society.

The society you dream of having, the one you would choose come from your "occupy" efforts, is the society in which you would have no ability, no freedom, to do what you currently do for a living or have the lifestyle you currently live. Yours and everyone's lives would be unrecognizable from the ones we live now. And with all due respect, isn't that a close family member of yours we see on television every week dredging for gold in Nome?

Maybe instead of focusing on Homer and the Kenai Peninsula you should take your occupy efforts to Nome. And maybe you should take a long hard look at yourself.With all due respect, the hypocrisy is mind-numbing.